World-Class Tuition System

MY THREE older children are in Primary 6, Primary 4 and Primary 2 in a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school. Having put them in such a well sought-after school, I thought they would be in good hands.

All three of them were getting average grades. However, to my utter shock and dismay, my eldest came home with red marks for her Primary 5 exams - she was the last in class. Her concerned form teacher told me she was attentive in class and was, in fact, chosen as the role model student for that year.

The teacher was surprised she had no tuition and that I did not tutor her myself. She was even more surprised that I had not bought any 10-year series or guidebooks for her. Due to time constraints, teachers usually had time to cover only the basics, so the child needed to do extra work at home or get tuition, she said.

That seems to be the reality, as I have found out from parents of children in other schools. Subsequently, I enrolled her for tuition for all four subjects and, for her mid-year exam, she achieved the first position in her class. I can now understand why the majority of parents are ready to spend so much money on tuition. The system is just not delivering.

Tuition centres are able to produce many students with As. Why is that so? The class size is about 10. The tutors are motivated to get the students to do well, either through bonuses or other means. More than that, they are not bogged down with many other responsibilities that distract them from teaching. Many good tutors I spoke to are former teachers.

If we could give our teachers a good environment, and not burden them with umpteen other responsibilities, they would have more energy and time left to prepare well for lessons.

Parents are focusing all their energies on academic achievement, thereby neglecting more important matters like character building and family bonding, which are so crucial in today's fast-paced world. It may be a good idea to set up a forum with parents, students, teachers, tutors and the Ministry of Education to analyse the situation. Singapore has a world-class education system. Perhaps, that is in part due to a world-class tuition system.

Michelle Choy (Ms)